The Corps Concordia Rigensis is a German Baltic student association founded at the University of Riga in Riga, Latvia in 1869. It has been based in Hamburg since 1956 and has been a member of the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband since 1959. The international corps members are called Concords and form a cross-generational, lifelong bond of friendship.[1][2]
| Corps Concordia Rigensis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | November 29, 1869 University of Riga |
| Type | Studentenverbindung |
| Affiliation | KSCV |
| Status | Active |
| Scope | Local |
| Motto | Wahr und treu – kühn und frei sowie Viribus units ("True and Faithful - Bold and Free with United Forces") |
| Colors | Royal blue, Goldenrod and Crimson |
| Chapters | 1 |
| Zirkel |  |
| Headquarters | Tarpenbekstraße 140 Hamburg 20251 Germany |
| Website | www |
History
editRiga
editThe Concordia Rigensis was founded on November 29, 1869, in Riga by members of the Fraternitas Baltica at the University of Riga as the second German student association.[3] Together with Rubonia, founded in 1875, and Fraternitas Marcomannia (1902), these four formed the first connections for German students in what was then Russian Riga.[4][5]
On January 24, 1870, Concordia was a co-founder of the Rigenser Chargierte-Convent. Some of the members left in the winter semester of 1880/81 to found Selonia. Concordia left the Charged Convent on October 27, 1906, and was readmitted on March 27, 1907. Due to the war, it was suspended in the summer semester of 1915 and reconstituted on October 14, 1918. The Charged Convent was re-established.
From January 31, 1919, to September 1920, Concordia was suspended due to the war.[6] In 1921, it was admitted to the (Latvian) Presidential Convention. Concordia resigned from the Presidential Convention on October 30, 1922, and took part in the reconstitution of the Charged Convention the following day. From July 6, 1924, to May 14, 1932, it was again a member of the Presidential Convention.
In the first year of the World War II, the German-Soviet non-aggression pact added the Baltics to the Soviet area of influence, and the resettlement of the German-Baltic people was ordered. Therefore, the corps was suspended on October 14, 1939, but plans were made to reactive the Concordia Rigensis when the opportunity arose.[7] However, reactivation was prevented by politics after the resettlement where the only organization allowed by the state was an old gentlemen's association.[8]
Hamburg
editDue to the political situation, the Corps' return to Riga was impossible. Therefore, the Corps was reconstituted in Hamburg, Germany on October 13, 1956. Since May 22, 1958, the Corps has participated in the Hamburg Senior Citizens' Convention. It was adopted into the SC[clarification needed] on June 10, 1959, and accepted into the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV). From December 1, 1970, to November 29, 1984, the Corps was suspended due to a lack of young talent.[8]
Concordia Rigensis is one of the few German-Baltic student associations that have survived. Today, there are three remaining German-Baltic student associations: the Concordia Rigensis, the Fraternitas Dorpatensis in Munich (founded in 1948), and the Curonia Goettingensis (founded in 1959). All three corporations are members of the Baltic Philistine Association.
Like the other two German-Baltic student associations, Concordia Rigensis maintains active connections with the Baltics after the fall of the Iron Curtain and is actively involved in the German-Baltic Völkerkommersen,[9] which it organized in Hamburg in 1996, 2005, and 2016.
Since its founding in 1971, numerous members have come from the Helmut-Schmidt-Universität and were or still are active officers in the Bundeswehr. Due to this high military proportion, the Concordia Rigensis is unique in the KSCV, and is unofficially referred to there as a military or officer corps.
Symbols and traditions
editThe color band of Concordia Rigensis is blue-gold-red with a width of 2 cm, which is typical for the Baltics. A colored ribbon with a width of 2.7 cm is worn at Kommersen. Members were a small dark blue student cap with a gold, embroidered star called a Baltenstern. As is common in the Baltics, the Concord foxes do not wear a fox ribbon, but only a black lid with a special silver brooch on the side.
The Corps' motto is "Wahr und treu – kühn und frei sowie Viribus units" or "True and Faithful - Bold and Free with United Forces"
All Baltic corps have significant differences when compared to other student associations based in Germany. Terms and behavior date back to the early days of the connection system in the 18th and early 19th centuries, which have been more or less preserved in the Baltics. For example, the Fox Major is called the Oldermann, probably based on the Olderman of the guilds of the Hanseatic cities. In addition, the corporation house is called the Convent Quarters (German: Conventsquartier).
The corps also values the preservation of old student songs. The Baltic pub also does not have the formal procedure that developed in the German Empire. In addition, with a Russian influence, vodka and Baltic specialties such as pierogi are also offered.
Related organizations
editCartels
editA cartel had existed since 1909 with the German-Baltic Corps Nevania from St. Petersburg (founded in 1847), to which the Corps Rubonia also belonged. In 1970, the last seven Philistines of the Corps Nevania transferred their traditions and archives to Concordia Rigensis, with the obligation to keep the memory of this corps alive as an example of German-Baltic corps history from Russia.
Friendly corporations
edit- There has been a friendship agreement with the Fraternitas Lataviensis (founded in 1926) in Riga since 1996. It resides in the old Concordia Rigensis Convent Quarters in Riga.
- There was also a friendship treaty with the Fraternitas Baltica (founded in Riga in 1865) in 1958.
Baltic Philistine Association
editDating to 1951, the Baltic Philistine Association is the corporate association of Baltic corporations from Dorpat and Riga. The Baltic Philistine Association belongs to Corps Concordia Rigensis, Corps Curonia Goettingensis, and the Baltic Corporation Fraternitas Dorpatensis in Munich.
See also
editFurther reading
edit- Michael Doeberl, Otto Scheel, Wilhelm Schlink, Hans Sperl, Eduard Spranger, Hans Bitter, and Paul Frank (eds.). Academic Germany , Volume 2: The German universities and their academic citizens , Berlin 1931, p. 1085ff.
- Baltic Society in Germany (ed.). Baltic fraternity. The student corporations of Baltic Germans, Estonians, and Latvians then and now. Edited by Hans von Rimscha. Heidelberg Gutenberg Printing Company 1968.
- Bernhard Grün and Christoph Vogel. The fun house. Handbook of Corporate Studentship. Bad Buchau 2014, ISBN 978-3-925171-92-5 , pp. 186–187.
- Theodor Pernaux, Alexander Grosse, and Arved Pussel. Album Concordiae Rigensis 1869–1909. Riga 1909.
- Otto Kraus. German-Baltic Corps. In: Handbook of the Kösener Corps student. Volume I, Würzburg 1985.
- Dietrich G. Kraus. Baltic fraternity in Dorpat and Riga. In: Yearbook of Baltic Germanness. Volume XLV, 1998.
- Henry Schultz-Feegen. History of Concordia Rigensis 1869–1929. Berlin 1929.
- Roland Seeberg-Elverfeldt. The Baltic genealogy. In: Georg von Rauch (ed.): History of German-Baltic historiography. Böhlau Cologne Vienna 1986. pp. 164–168: University and students . [all albums of the student associations are recorded].
- Wolfgang Wachsmuth. "Nature, Structure, and Significance of the Former German-Baltic Student Corporations". in Once and Now. Yearbook of the Association for Corps Student History Research, vol. 1 (1956), pp. 45–60.
- Concordia Rigensis in Hamburg. German Baltic Corps, November 29, 1869 – 1959. Festschrift for the ninetieth anniversary.
- Philistine Association of Concordia Rigensis (editors). Concordia Rigensis. Festschrift: Chronicle, Album, Statistics. Hamburg: 1969
- 50 Years of Baltic Nations Kommerses. Tartu, 2013. ISBN 978-9949-9417-1-1
References
edit- ^ Baltic Philistine Association (ed.): The Baltic Ph! Ph! Friedrichshafen 1973, p. 6: “Concordia Rigensis, founded Riga November 13, 1865, postponed in Riga 1939, reactivated Hamburg October 13, 1956”
- ^ Hans von Rimscha: Baltic Burschentum - The student corporations of the Baltic Germans, Estonians and Latvians then and now. P. 32: “In the fall of 1956, the Concordia Rigensis at the University of Hamburg was the first Baltic corps to be reactivated.”
- ^ Ernst Hans Eberhard. Handbook of the student connection system. Leipzig, 1924/25, p. 201.
- ^ The Border Messengers: Magazine for politics, literature and art. Volume 74, Issues 3–4, p. 211.
- ^ Jürgen von Hehn, Wilhelm Lenz, Baltic Historical Commission: History of German-Baltic historiography. 1986, p. 382.
- ^ Festschrift Fraternitas Baltica, 1865–1965. p. 152.
- ^ Philistine Association of Concordia Rigensis (ed.): Concordia Rigensis. 11/29/1869–11/29/1969. Festschrift: chronicle, album, statistics. Hamburg 1969. P. 45.
- ^ a b Paulgerhard Gladen: The Kösener and Weinheimer Corps. Their representation in individual chronicles. WJK-Verlag, Hilden 2007, p. 46 f. ISBN 978-3-933892-24-9.
- ^ Ex est! Schmollis! Fiduzit! Report on the Baltic Völkerkommer in the FAZ from June 16, 2008.